Feral behavior

Question
My cat has a constantly raised ridge of hair along her backbone.  Her meow is
like a cat in heat or a Siamese cat.  She hisses and growls if you pet her or pick
her up.  We have had this cat for three years. Is she just a nervous cat?  Is there
anything we could do about her behavior?  She is a short-haired calico cat who I
got in Germany.

Answer
Ally,

This cat has been doing this for 3 years!   Is she spayed?  If not, this would be the first order of business!!!!!

My approach with her would be to leave her alone, ignore her except to feed.  If she wants attention, she will come and get it from you.  If not, let her go her own way.  It appears as if she was never socialized as a kitten.  At age 3 she can be socialized, but you would have to contain her to do it.

I will give you a link to a very good article on socializing a feral cat.  You can try this and see if it works.  It is a very long involved procedure but does, eventually, usually socialize the cat.  This was written specifically for Abyssinians, but generally is applicable to any breed or mix:

http://www.abyssinian-rescue.com/advice.htm

Good luck and best regards... Norm.